Book Review: The enigmatic Swift brought to life

Tuesday

Mar 25, 2014 at 6:40 PM

Jonathan Swift is perhaps best described as a character in the finest Swiftian tradition. Indeed, if the man did not live and breathe three centuries ago, he himself would have invented him. For Swift is a mystery wrapped in contradictions best served with a large helping of righteous humor.

Leo Damrosch’s recent biography, “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World” (Yale University Press, 573 pages), brings the renowned writer to life with flashes of wit and the kind of insight that can only be gleaned through years of assiduous research – much of it drawn from resources discovered over the past three decades. Earlier this month, it won the National Book Critics Circle Awards in the biography category.

Swift was nothing if not enigmatic, and thus he’s a fascinating subject for any biographer. He was a clergyman who never seemed all that pious, an Irishman who professed hate for his homeland but fought England’s exploitation of her at several turns, and a lover of women who… well, who knows?

Damrosch details Swift’s life from his humble beginnings in Dublin, to his disappointing attempts to climb the ranks of church and government in England, and his final decades as an even-more-famous author back home in Ireland.

It’s a life full of questions. Who was Swift’s father? Why did his wet nurse take the infant from Ireland to England for several years? What was his relationship with a woman he spent his life with whom he met when she was nine and he was her tutor? All of these are blanks in Swift’s story, and Damrosch provides clear-eyed speculation and debunks previous assertions as to what the facts may be. He also shows a deep knowledge for the author’s masterworks, including “Gulliver’s Travels,” and “A Modest Proposal.” These and lesser-known works are given full analysis and put into the context of Swift’s time and place.

A biography of Swift written in a strict academic tone would be an insult to the man himself; Damrosch’s prose is lively and accessible. He even drops a few Swiftian asides, such as this observation about the author’s fellow Irishman and playwright, William Congreve. Damrosch writes; “His remaining twenty-nine years would be devoted to politics and pleasure, not in that order.”

In “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World,” what emerges is an intelligent, indignant, combative, engaging and very human subject. As Damrosch leads us toward Swift’s final and sad ending, there are many questions that remain unanswered. That’s fine, for it’s in the telling that this story truly soars.

Hear a recent interview with Leo Damrosch on WBUR’s On Point.

>>>> Always more at johnjwinters.com

Jonathan Swift is perhaps best described as a character in the finest Swiftian tradition. Indeed, if the man did not live and breathe three centuries ago, he himself would have invented him. For Swift is a mystery wrapped in contradictions best served with a large helping of righteous humor.
Leo Damrosch’s recent biography, “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World” (Yale University Press, 573 pages), brings the renowned writer to life with flashes of wit and the kind of insight that can only be gleaned through years of assiduous research – much of it drawn from resources discovered over the past three decades. Earlier this month, it won the National Book Critics Circle Awards in the biography category.
Swift was nothing if not enigmatic, and thus he’s a fascinating subject for any biographer. He was a clergyman who never seemed all that pious, an Irishman who professed hate for his homeland but fought England’s exploitation of her at several turns, and a lover of women who… well, who knows?
Damrosch details Swift’s life from his humble beginnings in Dublin, to his disappointing attempts to climb the ranks of church and government in England, and his final decades as an even-more-famous author back home in Ireland.
It’s a life full of questions. Who was Swift’s father? Why did his wet nurse take the infant from Ireland to England for several years? What was his relationship with a woman he spent his life with whom he met when she was nine and he was her tutor? All of these are blanks in Swift’s story, and Damrosch provides clear-eyed speculation and debunks previous assertions as to what the facts may be. He also shows a deep knowledge for the author’s masterworks, including “Gulliver’s Travels,” and “A Modest Proposal.” These and lesser-known works are given full analysis and put into the context of Swift’s time and place.
A biography of Swift written in a strict academic tone would be an insult to the man himself; Damrosch’s prose is lively and accessible. He even drops a few Swiftian asides, such as this observation about the author’s fellow Irishman and playwright, William Congreve. Damrosch writes; “His remaining twenty-nine years would be devoted to politics and pleasure, not in that order.”
In “Jonathan Swift: His Life and His World,” what emerges is an intelligent, indignant, combative, engaging and very human subject. As Damrosch leads us toward Swift’s final and sad ending, there are many questions that remain unanswered. That’s fine, for it’s in the telling that this story truly soars.
Hear a recent interview with Leo Damrosch on WBUR’s On Point.
>>>> Always more at johnjwinters.com

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